Disclaimer: I do not own any parts of Glee, though I wish I owned Lea Michele's voice!

New Directions had just finished their Journey medley at regional's and were celebrating backstage when they realized that Rachel and Quinn were nowhere to be found. Just then, Rachel came bursting into the room in a state of panic.

"Guys, Quinn's in labor. She's in my car right now but she wanted me to come and tell you guys since we left our phones here." Everyone's jaw dropped. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" The rest of the glee club looked at each shocked. None of them knew how to deal with it.

"Puck and Finn you guys go. We'll go after they announce the winners since there's only a bus here and Rachel took Quinn," Mr. Schue said, solving the problem. Puck and Finn rushed out the door with Rachel as she guided them to her car.

"Quinn, how's the baby? Are you feeling alright?" Finn asked his panic ever so clear.

"No way, Berry! I'm not letting you drive while Quinn is in labor. You drive like a grandma!" Puck said from the backseat. Rachel gasped in shock.

"I'll have you know Noah that birth is a long process. She will not be giving birth in the car so there is no reason why the momentum of my driving has to be in question." Puck rolled his eyes and was about to say something but stopped when he heard Quinn wince.

"Please Rachel; I will say this as nicely as I can. Floor it or Puck is driving!" Puck smirked but the thought was pushed aside when his head jerked backward as Rachel accelerated the car. She sped her way through the streets and barely came to a complete stop at stop signs. They arrived to the hospital 15 minutes later. Finn picked up Quinn rushing her into the hospital while Rachel and Puck trailed behind. Never in Rachel's mind had she ever thought that she would be driving Puck, Finn and Quinn to the hospital for the birth of their baby girl. In all honesty, Rachel wasn't over Finn fully. She accepted the fact that even though Quinn's baby wasn't his, he was still going to be there for Quinn. She accepted the fact that he broke her heart on more than one occasion. And she was slowly accepting the fact that no matter what she did nothing would get in the way of his love for Quinn. Finn and Quinn were rushed off to labor and delivery leaving Puck and Rachel out in the waiting room. She looked over at Puck and placed her small hand on his shoulder squeezing him for comfort.

"How are you doing?" she asked. He gave her a small smile but before he could respond, Finn walked back into the waiting room as white as a ghost.

"She wants you Rachel. She said I couldn't handle it," Finn said taking a seat beside Puck. Their friendship wasn't the same as it was before but they were on okay terms for the baby and for Quinn. Rachel laughed, got up and made her way into the delivery room.

"Hey," Rachel said taking the seat beside Quinn and holding her hand. She never thought that this would be the result of sophomore year; her best friend being her former tormenter. After the baby gate drama, Rachel was the only one who didn't betray Quinn. Santana crossed Quinn off as one of her friends when she was kicked out of the cheerios, and Brittany just followed alone. Everyone else in her life, like her popularity, soon faded out but Rachel was there still offering the olive branch of friendship. Rachel even invited Quinn to live with her since her fathers who loved her weren't home 90% of the time. Quinn accepted after the fall out and the two became really close after that.

"I need you to be in here with me Rach. Finn's just… you know Finn. One look and he'll be on the ground." Rachel nodded, the two of them bursting into a fit of giggles. "Oh my god, don't make me laugh, it hurts too much." Rachel seemed to laugh a little bit more at this.

"K Quinny I'll be back. I'm just going to tell Finn and Puck that you're fine." After getting Quinn's nod of approval, Rachel walked outside to alleviate Finn of his birthing coach duties and then brought them back into the room with her. The four of them stayed like that for a while in silence. Puck was too caught up with the fact that they were giving away his little girl.

God, I feel more like my deadbeat dad than ever Puck though. As if she was reading his mind, Rachel grabbed a hold of hand and gave it a strong squeeze. He smiled back at her. He would never tell anyone but Rachel Berry was kinda cool. She was there for him, and she seemed to be able to read him like a book. He liked that. He took back the things he said to her that day on the bleachers. Sure, they weren't friends before but now he couldn't imagine how he would go on without her friendship. Just then, a nurse guided Mr. Schue and the rest of the glee club into the room.

"This room has totally overfilled its maximum capacity, but I thought that you guys would like to have a moment. Please be quiet and I'll give you guys 5 quick minutes." Everyone thanked her as she made her way out.

"Hey guys, what happened?" Quinn asked excitedly. Ever since she's been given that epidural, she felt like she was on cloud nine. Rachel laughed at the thought.

"Guys, I'm sorry to inform you…" Mr. Schue said pausing for effect, "but you're going to have to heal fast because we have Nationals to go too!" Everyone cheered with excitement as the group gathered into a large group hug around Quinn. The nurse came back in with a stern look.

"C'mon guys, keep it down!"

"Sorry," Mr. Schue said. Everyone started to calm themselves when Quinn got another contraction.

"Um, I think we should go," Mercedes muttered. The group agreed and began crowding the door to leave. As excited as they were for Quinn, they did not want to see her pop the baby out in front of them. Puck, Finn and Rachel spent the next few hours rotating their shifts of taking care of Quinn while trying to catch up on sleep. Puck's shift was always the shortest but there was reason for it. Both he and Quinn felt extremely guilty around each other's presence because it only reminded them of the pending adoption. Once they were fully rested, they all stayed in Quinn's room to calm her from the stress of child birth. The contractions were coming faster and lasting a whole lot longer. Minutes later, the obstetrician and midwives arrived, kicking Finn and Puck out in the process.

"Okay Quinn, you're 10 centimeters dilated, it's time to start pushing." Quinn nodded as Rachel held onto her hand. She was shaking as she pushed with all of her might.

"I can't do it Rach," she said between tears.

"Yes, you can Quinn! You've been a trooper all this time. Just a few more pushes and you'll be greeted with your precious baby girl." Within minutes, the sound of Quinn's screaming was drowned out by a loud, wailing cry.

"Congratulations Quinn! 4:26 a.m., we welcome your beautiful baby girl." Rachel and Quinn both began crying as they hugged each other tightly. The nurses cleaned off the baby, placed the small hat on her head, and then placed her in Quinn's arms.

"She is so beautiful," Rachel said. Quinn nodded barely holding back her tears.

"I feel like I love her so much." Rachel looked at Quinn sadly.

"If you want to keep her Quinn, you still can." Quinn shook her head.

"I love her, but as selfish as it sounds I know that if I keep her, I'll end up resenting her for holding my life back. I don't want to be stuck in Lima Rach, and that's what happens to every teen mom." Rachel nodded because she understood how she felt. She knew Quinn had dreams of going away from Lima and making something of herself. The doctors finished up with Quinn and then transferred her into another room. Whilst they were doing that, Quinn handed Rachel the baby so that she can show Finn and Puck before the adoption agency came. Rachel walked out cooing the pink bundle of joy.

"Hey little girl, I would like to introduce you to your fathers," Rachel said getting the attention of Finn and Puck. Finn walked over to Rachel and played with the small newborn's fingers. Puck stayed in place in the chair afraid that if he saw the baby he wouldn't be able to let her go.

"Noah, would you like to see her?" Rachel asked. Noah shook his head trying to fight back the tears. Rachel nodded her head, fully understanding.

"Finn, why don't you take her back into Quinn's room?" Finn's smile was beaming as she placed the baby in his arms. He made his way into Quinn's recovery room cooing and singing to the baby. Rachel walked over to Puck and sat beside him.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Look, I know you're going to say something about me not wanting to see the baby, but I just can't okay? I don't want you to pressure me Rach." She pulled his head to the crook of her neck and rubbed small circles on his back as he cried the tears he'd been trying to hide.

"Listen Noah, I know what you're thinking and I want you to stop. By putting her up for adoption, you are not being like your father. You're doing what's best for your kid and that's something your dad has never done."He didn't respond; he just grabbed onto her like he needed her to live. He usually never cried in public, it was totally unbadass of us but under the circumstances, he just didn't care.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Rachel asked trying to get him away from the hospital. She knew it was only making him feel worse. He nodded and she led him back to her car. She drove to the clearing that she usually went to whenever she needed to have some alone time. It was an open field of grass and wildflowers that no one knew about. She had discovered it by accident one day when she was lost in the woods during a family camping trip. Rachel pulled out the large blanket she kept in her trunk for times she came here and led Puck to her favorite spot.

"I always go here when I need to be alone." She laid the blanket on the floor. Puck sat down spreading his arms open wide signaling Rachel to come sit in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her and they sat in silence looking up at the stars.

"I think this is the longest you've ever been quiet," Puck said trying to break the silence. She slapped him gently on the arm while laughing because he was probably right.

"I can be quiet if I want to," Rachel protested. He just laughed and pulled her in closer.

"I like having you in my arms again." Rachel tried to hide her shock. She was pretty sure he was in love with Quinn yet here they were in each other's arms staring at the stars. Maybe I was wrong about you Noah; maybe there can be something between us. She shook the idea from her head.

"I like it too. I miss it," she said, "Listen, I know you don't want to talk about this but I think that you should." Puck shrugged.

"I never imagined that I could do this. Ever since I found out that Quinn was pregnant… I don't know. Here I was, this badass throwing people in dumpsters, ditching class, throwing slushie facials and now I'm like this puppet! I never realized that I could ever love someone so much. She makes me want to change who I am and become a better person."

"Oh," Rachel said feeling a pang of jealousy. Of course he was in love with Quinn, everyone loved Quinn. Puck looked down and noticed the sad expression on Rachel's face.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing Rach; I can see something is bothering you. What is it?"

"It's just… Why does everyone always fall for Quinn? What does she have that I don't have?" He looked at her wide-eyed realizing that she mistook what he had said.

"Rachel, look I-"

"It's okay Noah."

"No Rachel, listen! I didn't mean it the way you thought. I know I've been a jerk to you. I know lately you've been really close to Quinn, Finn, and I and helping us get through this baby gate drama. If I had you again, I would never let you go because I love you. I know you're still hurt that Finn seems to always be running back to Quinn but that doesn't mean that she's any better or worse than you. I don't see how you can't see what an ass he really is. When I was talking about loving someone I was talking about that beautiful baby that's probably in Finn's arms right now." Rachel looked at Noah with surprise for two reasons. One, it was probably the most he's ever spoken in his entire existence. Two, he had just said he loved her.

"Yo-you love me?" It was then that Puck realized that he had pulled a Rachel Berry and said more than he was supposed to. Puck shrugged playing it off like it wasn't so important. Being the first one to say I love you to a chick as crazy as Berry and who had feelings for Finn was the last thing he ever thought he would do.

"Yeah, sure," he said trying to regain his badassness. Rachel smiled brightly at him.

"Noah, I am going to kiss you now." Puck gave his typical smirk and cocked his eyebrow causing Rachel to giggle right before making her way to his lips. The kiss was soft and sweet at first but then slowly became filled with passion and longing.

"Noah, we can't do this… You just had a kid."

"We can do this Rachel. Why should we be miserable while they live in their perfect bliss?" Rachel thought for a moment; he did have a point. Allowing her lust to take over, she smiled and pulled him into a more aggressive kiss.

"I want you Noah," Rachel moaned. Puck couldn't help it; he felt himself harden at the sound of her moan.

"Tell me when to stop Rachel, we don't have to go all the way. I know this is not how you pictured your first time."

"I want to Noah. I don't care about the candles, the flowers any of it. I just want you." He deepened the kiss upon hearing her request. That night they made love twice before falling asleep in each other's arms.

Review please! I hope you guys enjoyed it!